Beat 'em Up Games For Mindless Banging

Sometimes it doesn't have to be complicated: Beat 'Em Up games aren't made for long thinking. Just hitting it, leveling it up, and hitting it again with the next wave of enemies is enough. Strategy is less important than some controller or keyboard skills, but that's what makes this action subgenre fun.

If you're in the mood for a new game of monster beating, but you don't really know which game is worthwhile, we have the solution here: The following five beat 'em up games are guaranteed to blow your mind!

Castle Crashers 

Published by The Behemoth, Castle Crashers is the perfect example of what good beat 'em up games should look like: you have over 20 characters to choose from and more than twice as many weapons. As you progress through the game, you unlock new attacks and level up properties such as strength, magic, defense and dexterity. The goal is to defend the kingdom and free the princess.

The highlight of the game: You don't have to play the arcade adventure alone. You can also team up with up to three other friends in co-op mode or try your hand at PvP in the arena. The campaign in madness mode provides even more fun: In this mode, your opponents get more HP and hit harder - just like it should be in beat 'em up games.

In return, you can look forward to exclusive weapons. Incidentally, your skill points and companions from normal mode will be carried over, even if you first have to earn your items and levels again.In addition to the gameplay and the available modes, Castle Crashers also impresses visually: the graphics in 2D design are hand-drawn, high-resolution and pretty crazy. This makes them a perfect match for the range of opponents, where you can look forward to oversized corn cobs, for example, in addition to fire-breathing lizards.

The game One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, also published by Bandai Namco Entertainment 2020, is part of a manga and anime franchise. However, the game combines the world of One Piece with the action and game principles known from the Dynasty Warrior games.

The fact that this is the fourth installment in the Pirate Warriors series bodes well for how harmoniously beat 'em up games can be made with these two sources of inspiration.In this game, too, you play well-known characters like Luffy, explore the world known from anime and manga and, in addition to battles, face the important bosses that the pirate crew encounters on their journey.

Great: The events that you experience during the game are relatively close to the current status of the manga. Especially die-hard fans of the series will get their money's worth.

Sifu

If you are looking for good beat 'em up games that can perhaps come up with a twist, you can definitely not avoid the title Sifu. The game from indie developer Sloclap won plenty of awards in 2022, including the award for the best action game of the year.This title is more than deserved: in Sifu you embark on a campaign to avenge your family. In addition, you level up your kung fu skills in realistic-looking scenes.

But beware: If you die in-game, you can return to life with a magical amulet, but you will age faster and have to live with all the consequences that entails.If you can't get enough of the Base Game, there's also the free Arena expansion, which comes with several new challenges, locations, and modes.

Hades

We would also like to recommend Hades, developed by Supergiant Games. The typical action elements of beat 'em up games are combined here with an atmospherically impressively designed underworld full of details.You slip into the role of Zagreus, the son of Hades, and try to escape from the world ruled by your father. As with Sifu, there is a twist: If your escape attempt fails, you start over.Each of your quests is unique, empowering you and unveiling an ongoing story piece by piece.

The setting of the Greek underworld runs through the entire game: ghosts and monsters await you, but the gods are also at your side. For example, you can select one of them to be given skills by him or her. With these and other game mechanics, you can put together an individual character, so that Hades has a high replay value even as a representative of the Beat'Em Up games.

Conclusion

Beat 'Em Up games have their own charm. Many opponents and a few more difficult bosses should definitely not be missing. But it's also nice to have some variety to keep things entertaining.If you're looking for the next title that you can just bang your head on without thinking then you should check out Castle Crashers.

 As a franchise fan, you are well advised to go with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot or the fourth installation of the One Piece: Pirate Warriors series.The game Sifu brings a breath of fresh air to the level system with the magical amulet and the aging process, while Hades comes up with a detailed setting and particularly individual customization options.